Boy reported missing in George Town found in Taiping

A boy who was reported missing after hitching a motorcycle ride with a man when his stepfather's motorcycle had a puncture at the Penang Bridge on Friday, was found safe in Taiping, Perak Saturday.

Timur Laut district police chief ACP Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said Mohammad Muzzafar Mohammad, 11, was found by a personnel from the Taiping Police Station at a bus stop at about 7pm.

"We have received information the boy has been found in Taiping. The policeman brought him to the station before contacting the tahfiz boarding school based on the writing on his t-shirt," he said in a statement here Saturday night.

He said police personnel from the Timur Laut District police headquarters was on the way to bring the boy back.

News of the missing boy had gone viral on Facebook and WhatsApp application since Friday.

In the 11.30am incident, the boy's stepfather Sabri Abdul Ghani, 53, was fetching him from the school in Seberang Jaya when the back tyre of his motorcycle punctured on the way home to Kampung Rawa, Sungai Pinang here.

A man in his 50s, who was riding a motorcycle along the same route, offered to help by letting the boy to pillion ride with him, he said.

Sabri, who allowed his stepson to ride with the man, however, lost sight of them after reaching the junction at Jalan Haji Ahmad Nor.

Sabri, who worked as an auxiliary policeman at a hotel, then went to search for his stepson and the man at the flat they are staying and all over Sungai Pinang but could not find them.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Muzzafar's mother, Amnah Basri, 35, who had spent a sleepless night over her son's safety, expressed gratitude after she was informed by the police her only child had been found. -- Bernama